The dumbest mother ****** on planet earth. So glad he didn’t accept the Steelers offer and they’d be stuck with this cancer. Wow, dodged a bullet with that one.

This will go down as the biggest financial fiasco in NFL history.

I'm surprised, I won't lie.

But there will be a team that will throw the checkbook at him. No doubt there.

Then again, part of me wants to see the Steelers tag him again and let him sit out another year.

Good luck making up that $14 million. Can’t blame the Steelers at all for this idiot.

(11-13-2018, 10:21 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Good luck making up that $14 million. Can’t blame the Steelers at all for this idiot.

Right. Why would anyone pay him that money now?

And if he is all about securing his future, what's up with dropping 14 million??

Chris Johnson II or Demarco Murray?

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2018/7/19/17586020/rams-todd-gurley-claims-nfl-dont-want-to-pay-running-backs-after-leveon-bell-rejects-steelers-offer

He should have taken the deal they offered to begin with.

It was fair for him and about as high as you can go at RB without killing team.

Could have had chance at (God forbid) a SB in bens last years while making fair enough money.

All while still being very marketable where the real money is for players of his stature.

Think he will lose endorsements in future because of this that he would have always had coming in if remaining a steeler.

Glad to see some Bengals luck fall on him and steelers. Although they actually profited from it by Conner playing well and for cheaper allowing money to be spent elsewhere.

(11-13-2018, 10:21 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Good luck making up that $14 million. Can’t blame the Steelers at all for this idiot.

(11-14-2018, 12:46 AM)Dill Wrote: Right. Why would anyone pay him that money now?

And if he is all about securing his future, what's up with dropping 14 million??

Chris Johnson II or Demarco Murray?

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2018/7/19/17586020/rams-todd-gurley-claims-nfl-dont-want-to-pay-running-backs-after-leveon-bell-rejects-steelers-offer

People keep saying that he's stupid for walking away from that much money, which just confuses the hell out of me because it's only a one-year deal with no future guarantee and he can get hurt with how much the Steelers use him.  People counter that with "but he's walking away from 14 million and won't get that per year elsewhere," but guess what?  There's EIGHT BACKS MAKING MORE GUARANTEED MONEY THAN THAT, and plus they have long-term security.  So you think that Bell won't be paid as a top eight back and get AT LEAST as much guaranteed money as those guys?  

He may not get it all in one year, but it should be pretty close, and it's about the guaranteed money.

I haven't seen anyone bring up that point on here.

(11-14-2018, 04:30 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: People keep saying that he's stupid for walking away from that much money, which just confuses the hell out of me because it's only a one-year deal with no future guarantee and he can get hurt with how much the Steelers use him.  People counter that with "but he's walking away from 14 million and won't get that per year elsewhere," but guess what?  There's EIGHT BACKS MAKING MORE GUARANTEED MONEY THAN THAT, and plus they have long-term security.  So you think that Bell won't be paid as a top eight back and get AT LEAST as much guaranteed money as those guys?  

He may not get it all in one year, but it should be pretty close, and it's about the guaranteed money.

I haven't seen anyone bring up that point on here.

He had an option to sign a long term deal to "protect his future".  He passed on it.  There's always stupid owners, but I think that most will see that while he's very good, he also had the luxury of being on the same side of the ball as a HoF QB, AB, JuJu, and a stud line.

(11-14-2018, 12:32 PM)michaelsean Wrote: He had an option to sign a long term deal to "protect his future".  He passed on it.  There's always stupid owners, but I think that most will see that while he's very good, he also had the luxury of being on the same side of the ball as a HoF QB, AB, JuJu, and a stud line.

There's that, and then, if I'm an owner/Front office looking for that special running back, I'd also have to wonder about his judgment. First there was the marijuana incident, and then he can obviously get angry enough to throw away 14 million and sit out an entire year to make a point. I'm willing to pay for a great back, if he still is one, but do I want to pay his rate while wondering about his character/reliability?

Last week I watched a video of all his runs in the KC playoff game two years ago. Really amazing, fluid, a level above Connor, who is a great back. But I have to think some of that was having the right blockers and already working with them for years.  Maybe a new line would not be much different, but I'm not sure. DeCastro and Pouncey really lead well and block downfield.

(11-14-2018, 04:30 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: People keep saying that he's stupid for walking away from that much money, which just confuses the hell out of me because it's only a one-year deal with no future guarantee and he can get hurt with how much the Steelers use him.  People counter that with "but he's walking away from 14 million and won't get that per year elsewhere," but guess what?  There's EIGHT BACKS MAKING MORE GUARANTEED MONEY THAN THAT, and plus they have long-term security.  So you think that Bell won't be paid as a top eight back and get AT LEAST as much guaranteed money as those guys?  

He may not get it all in one year, but it should be pretty close, and it's about the guaranteed money.

I haven't seen anyone bring up that point on here.

He can get hurt at any time on the field. And one of his selling points is supposed to be he's a feature back plus receiver. You can't get your millions worth from him without playing him a lot.  Which team won't use him as much as the Steelers?

It may be about the guaranteed money, but I'll be very surprised if he gets a better deal than the Steelers offered.  He's already a millionaire. I'm surprised he's not thinking about the Hall of Fame or breaking all time records or winning a superbowl. He had a pretty stable future with those opportunities with the Steelers.

If he does get "pretty close" to what the Steelers offer, that is a year or two down the road. He has still lost 14 million this year.  Let's hypothetically give him 5-8 more years. Suppose he had stayed with the Steelers and gotten his 14 mil plus his millions for the next 8.How many years would he have to play and at what elevated salary to make up for what he's lost this year? Will he be able to squeeze that lost 14 million out of the 5-8 years he continues to play? I doubt it very much.

(11-14-2018, 04:30 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: People keep saying that he's stupid for walking away from that much money, which just confuses the hell out of me because it's only a one-year deal with no future guarantee and he can get hurt with how much the Steelers use him.  People counter that with "but he's walking away from 14 million and won't get that per year elsewhere," but guess what?  There's EIGHT BACKS MAKING MORE GUARANTEED MONEY THAN THAT, and plus they have long-term security.  So you think that Bell won't be paid as a top eight back and get AT LEAST as much guaranteed money as those guys?  

He may not get it all in one year, but it should be pretty close, and it's about the guaranteed money.

I haven't seen anyone bring up that point on here.

The only way turning down that much money to protect against him being injured and diminishing his future value makes sense is if he would have gotten such a catastrophic injury that it would have impacted his FA value next spring. Think completely shredded knee or torn achilles. Anything short of those or a few others are easily repaired and rehabbed in time for the start of 2019. Earl Thomas broke his leg and will be ready to go and 100% for the start of next season. 

I think the chances of those types catastrophic injuries happening to him are remote and not worth giving up $14M. I think the chances are very high that he could have played this year, gotten his $14M, and hit FA next year unscathed and still gotten the $40+M that Gurley got that he wants. 

Also IMO this holdout showed to potential suitors that A) he's not a team player, B) has a willingness to dog it if necessary, and C) with the success of Connor, possibly be more of a product of the system than a once in a lifetime RB. 

(11-14-2018, 09:56 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: The only way turning down that much money to protect against him being injured and diminishing his future value makes sense is if he would have gotten such a catastrophic injury that it would have impacted his FA value next spring. Think completely shredded knee or torn achilles. Anything short of those or a few others are easily repaired and rehabbed in time for the start of 2019. Earl Thomas broke his leg and will be ready to go and 100% for the start of next season. 

I think the chances of those types catastrophic injuries happening to him are remote and not worth giving up $14M. I think the chances are very high that he could have played this year, gotten his $14M, and hit FA next year unscathed and still gotten the $40+M that Gurley got that he wants. 

You don't think getting AT LEAST 10 million more in GUARANTEED money than that contract is worth holding out for and skipping out on that 14 million?

I know..........  we're all like "hell, I'd do anything for a million, let alone 14.5 in one year!" but that's the nature of the business and it's him knowing his worth.

(11-14-2018, 09:56 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: Also IMO this holdout showed to potential suitors that A) he's not a team player, B) has a willingness to dog it if necessary, and C) with the success of Connor, possibly be more of a product of the system than a once in a lifetime RB. 

(11-14-2018, 08:05 PM)Dill Wrote: He can get hurt at any time on the field. And one of his selling points is supposed to be he's a feature back plus receiver. You can't get your millions worth from him without playing him a lot.  Which team won't use him as much as the Steelers? 

A smart team that wants to keep him healthy and as productive for as long as possible.  Running backs have short playing careers, so a smart team will extend that value by not killing him with such a heavy workload.

I think he probably would not pass a drug test, so he's just sitting out until next year.

(11-15-2018, 04:41 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: You don't think getting AT LEAST 10 million more in GUARANTEED money than that contract is worth holding out for and skipping out on that 14 million?

I know..........  we're all like "hell, I'd do anything for a million, let alone 14.5 in one year!" but that's the nature of the business and it's him knowing his worth.





A smart team that wants to keep him healthy and as productive for as long as possible.  Running backs have short playing careers, so a smart team will extend that value by not killing him with such a heavy workload.

Correct.  Getting $10 million more in guaranteed money is not better than getting $14 million.  

So now he'll be a FA when next year starts?

A year off for a RB who's had as many touches as Bell is probably a good thing.

(11-15-2018, 11:52 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Correct.  Getting $10 million more in guaranteed money is not better than getting $14 million.  

You’ll have to explain your logic on that one.......

(11-15-2018, 03:08 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: You’ll have to explain your logic on that one.......

I think what Mike was trying to say is that 14 million dollars is more dollars than 10 million. 

Some might not agree, but Mike has a right to his opinion.

(11-15-2018, 04:10 PM)Dill Wrote: I think what Mike was trying to say is that 14 million dollars is more dollars than 10 million. 

Some might not agree, but Mike has a right to his opinion.

I'm still having trouble trying to follow this argument.

I don't think he's reading that correctly because it's 10 million MORE GUARANTEED than the 14 million.  

14+10>14.

The NFL was around long before Le'Veon Bell and will be around long after him. I'm sick of TV talking about him. There are 32 teams that will suit up rosters and there are thousands ready to play this game this weekend. Lets talk about them. With all the things in the world to talk about, Bell sitting out the season over money is the last thing to worry about. If you or your parents lose their job, do you think Bell is going to care about you. Of course not. The hell with Bell. Forget about it. There is NFL this weekend without him. Enjoy it.

(11-15-2018, 04:41 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: You don't think getting AT LEAST 10 million more in GUARANTEED money than that contract is worth holding out for and skipping out on that 14 million?

(11-15-2018, 09:02 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I'm still having trouble trying to follow this argument.

I don't think he's reading that correctly because it's 10 million MORE GUARANTEED than the 14 million.  

14+10>14.

You're acting like if he would have taken the $14M this year then there would not have been a contract next spring. That's highly unlikely and as I said above, would only be the case if he had sustained an injury that would have prevented him from getting a big contract as a FA in the spring. 

In all likelihood he would have gotten the 14 for this year plus the guaranteed money in his next contract. Now he's only getting the guaranteed money in his next contract.

Essentially he gambled $14M that he was going to get catastrophically hurt this year. Honestly there's no way of every really knowing if that would have been the case, but I'd say that the odds would be heavily against him suffering such an injury. And I don't think that any person in their right mind would make that bet either, especially that $14M is a lot of money. I'd see his side more if the tag was very low, say $5M, or oppositely if he was looking at a $100M guaranteed contract in the spring (Bell is so delusional, that might very well be what he's thinking). 

And thinking of the larger picture, let's not forget that he's still several months away from getting that contract and he needs to, well.....live. There's plenty of things outside of football that could derail him getting such a huge contract. (God forbid) He could be in a car accident, get some kind of terminal illness, get hit by a car, or just suffer some sort of freak accident like tearing an achilles while training in the off season that will impact his guaranteed money.

Bottom line is that when you have $14M in your hand, you take it and your take your chances, especially when those chances are mostly your actual job that is paying you the $14M.

(11-16-2018, 05:28 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: And thinking of the larger picture, let's not forget that he's still several months away from getting that contract and he needs to, well.....live. There's plenty of things outside of football that could derail him getting such a huge contract. (God forbid) He could be in a car accident, get some kind of terminal illness, get hit by a car, or just suffer some sort of freak accident like tearing an achilles while training in the off season that will impact his guaranteed money.

Bottom line is that when you have $14M in your hand, you take it and your take your chances, especially when those chances are mostly your actual job that is paying you the $14M.

yeah.  I am VERY disappointed that he turned out to be so immature. I loved watching him. And the steelers would have had wonderful depth at RB.

But if it was really about the money, this was a bad decision.  Maybe he doesn't really want to play football.